Sens can’t escape Curse of Carolina

Not even Dion Phaneuf and Kyle Turris could stop the Senators from laying yet another egg at their House of Horrors.

In their two previous meetings with the Carolina Hurricanes this season — both at Canadian Tire Centre, it’s important to point out — Phaneuf scored first and Turris second as Ottawa won each by a 2-1 count.

But on Friday night, the Senators again ran into the Curse of Carolina.

Their last win at PNC Arena was not that long ago, a 2-1 (of course) victory on St. Patrick’s Day in 2015. But the Senators have now gone 16 games without a regulation time victory in Raleigh, N.C. They have just two overtime wins over that stretch.

On this night, the Senators were done in by a terrible start that really was inexcusable. They should have been fired up to play this one, with a chance to move atop the Atlantic Division against a team they had 14 more points than entering the night.

Whether any of the players in the game knew of the Carolina Curse is doubtful. But the building was quite aware and it wasn’t about to let the Senators leave their House of Horrors with a win.

Sunnier days lay ahead for Guy Boucher’s team, if only because it is now off to Florida for a pair to complete this road trip. FAR AWAY EYES: Derick Brassard was the Senators most dangerous offensive player in the first period, and he didn’t register a shot on goal ... As a team, Ottawa had seven shots while the Hurricanes recorded 19. And still, the Senators were only down 1-0 thanks to Craig Anderson ... To see why size is so important, just watch a replay of Carolina’s goal. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Jared Staal was able to fend off Dion Phaneuf behind the net before scoring on the wraparound ... Tom Pyatt was the Senators best threat in the second, including a smart move along the boards than led to an in-alone chance while shorthanded ... Sometimes it’s unclear which player is to blame for an uncovered opponent on a goal. Such was not the case when an uncontested Elias Lindholm made it 2-0 late in the second, as Curtis Lazar smashed his stick on the end boards then slammed the bench door a couple of times when he got there. Lazar also lost the draw to Staal just before the goal as the rain that’s falling on his season continues in torrents ... Lazar spent time on the bench after that goal ... Eddie Lack was Eddie Luck a couple of times in the second, first when Zack Smith was just unable to get his stick on a loose puck in the crease then a little later when Tommy Wingels put a late deflection on a Chris Neil shot. TAKING NUMBERS: The Senators first period problems were partly due to their inability to get the puck over the Hurricanes blue line in the first 10 minutes, and their 22 per cent success rate in the faceoff circles. Turris, Brassard and Wingels were a combined 2-15 on draws, with Turris and Brassard winning one each ... I don’t care what it says on the NHL website, Staal is closer to 230 pounds than he is 210 ... Not known for his physical play, Brassard led the Senators with four hits in the first period ... Lindholm was quietly effective in the opening period with a team-leading four hits, 4-0 on the dots and two shots on goal. C’EST WHAT?: The only fan in the PNC Arena wearing a bright yellow Erik Karlsson Swedish hockey jersey was pro golfer Brad Fritsch, who had some unique video highlights of Chris Wideman’s troubleshooting ability during Wednesday’s outing on the course with him and the Senators captain. Fritsch said Wideman is “actually a better golfer than Erik,” and that Karlsson is “a pretty emotional guy on the golf course.” We can just imagine ... Of his own career, Fritsch admitted he hasn’t been able to get into as many PGA tournaments as he would have liked so far this year. “I’m kinda like a fourth line player who has to show up big time when he gets the call,” said Fritsch. ON SECOND THOUGHT: It was good to see Lazar play about 15 seconds without his helmet. Not because we long for the good old days when all players did, but because Lazar lost his while crashing the net ... Thought Marc Methot was going to score his first goal of the season when he quickly retrieved a puck along the sideboards and fired it toward the crowded crease, but of course it hit somebody and stayed out. Methot’s drought is now at 59 games, dating back to last Mar. 19 against the Habs ... Maybe Methot is just waiting until the Mar. 18 meeting with Montreal at Canadian Tire Centre to break the slump so it falls just short of a year … Pyatt prevented a sure goal with a stick check on Ryan Murphy as the Hurricanes defenceman was lined up to score with a chance at the open side ... Mark Borowiecki, who must lead the league in trips to the dressing room during a game, left in the second period after appearing to suffer a left shoulder injury in a collision with Phillip Di Giuseppe. As usual, he returned without missing more than a shift or two. dbrennan@postmedia.com